1949–50_Western_Football_League
1949–50 Western Football League
Football league season
The 1949–50 season was the 48th in the history of the Western Football League.
| Season | 1949–50 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Wells City (Division One) Barnstaple Town (Division Two) Bideford Town (Division Three) |
← 1948–49 1950–51 → | |
This was the first and only season in the history of the Western League in which it consisted of three divisions. Division Three was created largely from reserve sides of existing members, but was abandoned at the end of the season.
The champions for the first time in their history were Wells City, and the winners of Division Two were new club Barnstaple Town. Bideford Town won Division Three, only dropping one point.[1]
Division One remained at eighteen members with two clubs promoted to replace Clevedon and Bristol City Colts, who were relegated to Division Two. Weymouth had moved up to the Southern League and were replaced in Division One by their Reserves.
- Cheltenham Town Reserves, runners-up in Division Two
- Chippenham United, champions of Division Two
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wells City | 34 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 87 | 43 | 2.023 | 51 | |
| 2 | Poole Town | 34 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 88 | 45 | 1.956 | 51 | |
| 3 | Glastonbury | 34 | 23 | 4 | 7 | 78 | 38 | 2.053 | 50 | |
| 4 | Trowbridge Town | 34 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 104 | 40 | 2.600 | 49 | |
| 5 | Cheltenham Town Reserves | 34 | 21 | 4 | 9 | 91 | 58 | 1.569 | 46 | |
| 6 | Chippenham United | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 57 | 49 | 1.163 | 40 | |
| 7 | Bristol Rovers Colts | 34 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 54 | 50 | 1.080 | 37 | |
| 8 | Chippenham Town | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 77 | 70 | 1.100 | 33 | |
| 9 | Street | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 71 | 75 | 0.947 | 33 | |
| 10 | Weymouth Reserves | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 67 | 49 | 1.367 | 31 | |
| 11 | Salisbury | 34 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 64 | 66 | 0.970 | 31 | |
| 12 | Yeovil Town Reserves | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 55 | 102 | 0.539 | 31 | |
| 13 | Paulton Rovers | 34 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 60 | 76 | 0.789 | 27 | |
| 14 | Peasedown Miners Welfare | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 65 | 82 | 0.793 | 25 | |
| 15 | Portland United | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 44 | 74 | 0.595 | 22 | |
| 16 | Clandown | 34 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 48 | 80 | 0.600 | 21 | |
| 17 | Soundwell (R) | 34 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 61 | 116 | 0.526 | 18 | Relegated to Division Two |
| 18 | Bath City Reserves (R) | 34 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 45 | 103 | 0.437 | 16 |
Division Two remained at eighteen clubs, after Cheltenham Town Reserves and Chippenham United were promoted to Division One, and RAF Melksham left the league. Three new clubs joined:
- Bridgwater Town
- Bristol City Colts, relegated from Division One.
- Clevedon, relegated from Division One.
- Swindon Town replaced their Reserves with their Colts.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnstaple Town (P) | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 102 | 41 | 2.488 | 53 | Promoted to Division One |
| 2 | Dorchester Town (P) | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 96 | 51 | 1.882 | 50 | |
| 3 | Welton Rovers | 34 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 81 | 63 | 1.286 | 47 | |
| 4 | Stonehouse | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 83 | 63 | 1.317 | 44 | |
| 5 | Bridgwater Town | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 86 | 49 | 1.755 | 42 | |
| 6 | Trowbridge Town Reserves | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 81 | 53 | 1.528 | 42 | |
| 7 | Clevedon | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 92 | 61 | 1.508 | 42 | |
| 8 | Weston-super-Mare | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 86 | 73 | 1.178 | 41 | |
| 9 | Bristol City Colts | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 89 | 60 | 1.483 | 36 | |
| 10 | Cinderford Town | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 82 | 80 | 1.025 | 35 | |
| 11 | Chippenham Town Reserves | 34 | 14 | 4 | 16 | 74 | 73 | 1.014 | 32 | |
| 12 | Frome Town | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 72 | 74 | 0.973 | 31 | |
| 13 | Radstock Town | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 72 | 98 | 0.735 | 27 | |
| 14 | National Smelting Company | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 69 | 99 | 0.697 | 25 | |
| 15 | Swindon Town Colts | 34 | 9 | 3 | 22 | 58 | 89 | 0.652 | 21 | |
| 16 | Hoffman Athletic | 34 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 33 | 69 | 0.478 | 21 | |
| 17 | Bristol Aeroplane Company | 34 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 43 | 138 | 0.312 | 12 | Left at the end of the season |
| 18 | Douglas | 34 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 49 | 114 | 0.430 | 11 |
Division Three consisted of eleven clubs, all of which were new to the Western League except Bristol Rovers "A", this side rejoining the league having left in 1939. Seven of the other ten clubs were reserve sides of clubs in Divisions One and Two.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bideford Town (P) | 20 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 103 | 20 | 5.150 | 39[lower-alpha 1] | Promoted to Division Two |
| 2 | Ilfracombe Town (P) | 20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 74 | 37 | 2.000 | 32 | |
| 3 | Minehead (P) | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 49 | 30 | 1.633 | 27 | |
| 4 | Clevedon Reserves | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 50 | 41 | 1.220 | 25 | Left at the end of the season |
| 5 | Chippenham United Reserves | 20 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 45 | 48 | 0.938 | 18 | |
| 6 | Weston-super-Mare Reserves | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 44 | 64 | 0.688 | 17 | |
| 7 | Bristol Rovers "A" | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 43 | 0.837 | 16 | |
| 8 | Barnstaple Town Reserves | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 45 | 0.689 | 15 | |
| 9 | Welton Rovers Reserves | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 36 | 64 | 0.563 | 12 | |
| 10 | Bridgwater Town Reserves | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 38 | 62 | 0.613 | 11 | |
| 11 | Stonehouse Reserves | 20 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 19 | 69 | 0.275 | 8 |
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up to and including the 1976–77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(P) Promoted
Notes:
- The tables as published at the time contained errors, hence the totals do not balance in some columns.[1]
- Robinson, Michael (ed.), Non-League Football Tables 1889–2006, Soccer Books, 2006